In 1838 Battery C, 3rd Regiment, commanded by Captain Samuel Ringgold became the first artillery battery to receive horses so that every soldier was mounted. Commonly known as a flying battery because of their capability for rapid movement, Ringgold's battery was soon followed by three other batteries, one from each of the four artillery regiments. The flying batteries played a decisive role in winning the Mexican War battle honors. Around the edge, the flag honors the Battery's service during the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Buena Vista, and Monterey. Read more »

This Barcelona 12-pounder is EL TORO (The Bull), made on 1 May 1767. A V-notch rear sight is cast into the breech ring, with a small front sight blade on the swell of the muzzle. This simple arrangement indicates the importance of point-blank firing in the age of smoothbore gunnery. EL TORO passed into Mexican hands when that country won its independence from Spain and was captured by naval forces during the Mexican War.

This 12-pounder, EL TOSICO (The Poisonous One), is dated 6 July 1767. Like EL TORO, it was made for King Charles III and displays his cipher on the first reinforce. It was also a Mexican War trophy, and as an inscription on the breech face indicates - was lost and recovered at the Norfolk Naval Yard during the Civil War.

This 9-pounder is contemporary of Nos. 17 and 18, and it was made at Barcelona on 3 December 1767. COBRE... DE...AMERICA...on the left trunnion means that its founder used copper from the rich Spanish mines of Chile. Its PESO CASO (peso Castellano, Castilian weight) is marked on the right trunnion at 13 quintales, 75 libras, or 1394.66 of our pounds. It is named EL GALGO (The Greyhound).